2001 GO2

Near-Earth asteroid July 2020 yes 2001 GO 2 #FFC2E0 LINEAR Lincoln Lab ETS 13 April 2001(first observed only) 2001 GO 2 ApolloNEO 21 November 2025 (JD 2461000.5) 7 4 days 1.1761 AU 0.8372 AU 1.0066 AU 0.1683 1.01 yr (369 d) 218.43° 0.9759 ms / day 4.6243° 193.50° 265.56° 0.0047 AU LD on out 37 m (est. at 0.25) 49 m (est. at 0.14) 77 m (est. at 0.057) 24.3 2001 GO 2 is a very small asteroid and near-Earth object of the Apollo group, approximately 50 m ft off 2 us in diameter. Like 2003 YN 107, it is in a co-orbital configuration relative to Earth moving in a 1:1 mean-motion resonance. It was first observed on 13 April 2001, by astronomers with the LINEAR program at the Lincoln Lab's ETS near Socorro, New Mexico, in the United States. 2001 GO 2 has not been observed since its short four-day observation period in April 2001. Description With an orbital period of 369 days, 2001 GO 2 is in a near 1:1 orbital resonance with Earth, and also has about the same orbit around the Sun as Earth. Unlike most near-Earth asteroids that simply fly by when they approach Earth, the Earth catches up with this asteroid from behind so that the asteroid then pauses in the vicinity of Earth. While in the vicinity of Earth, the asteroid moves in a helical (corkscrew) pattern that resembles an orbit around the Earth, like the Earth has a new moon. But it is not really a moon, because the asteroid is not gravitationally bound to the Earth, and eventually the asteroid moves on away from Earth and continues its orbit around the Sun. 2001 GO 2 was in this helical pattern from about 1997 to 2005, making the closest approach to Earth on 6 April 2001, and will not make another close approach until 2092. The asteroid probably has a horseshoe orbit, but this has not been proven because the orbit was determined from only 5 days worth of observation. The Jupiter Tisserand invariant, used to distinguish different kinds of orbits, is 6.033. Other asteroids that move in this helical pattern, some of which the Earth catches up with the asteroid, and others in which the asteroid catches up with Earth, are 2003 YN 107, 2002 AA 29, and 164207 Cardea. left horizontal 250 Animation of 2001 GO 2 orbit from 1600 to 2500 Animation of 2001 GO2 orbit.gif Relative to Sun and Earth Animation of 2001 GO2 orbit around Earth.gif Around Earth Animation of 2001 GO2 orbit around Sun.gif Around Sun Yellow Sun RoyalBlue EarthMagenta 2001 GO 2 See also 3753 Cruithne (1986 TO) 2002 AA 29 2003 YN 107 2006 JY 26 2010 SO 16 2012 FC 71 Orbital resonance References 30em 2001-04-17 last obs. JPL Small-Body Database Browser: (2001 GO2) https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi?sstr=2001%20GO2 Jet Propulsion Laboratory 27 July 2020 2001 GO2 Minor Planet Center https://www.minorplanetcenter.net/db_search/show_object?object_id=2001+GO2 27 July 2020 Corkscrew Asteroids https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2006/09jun_moonlets/ NASA 9 June 2006 27 July 2020 15 August 2020 https://web.archive.org/web/20200815200110/https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2006/09jun_moonlets/ dead Asteroid Size Estimator CNEOS NASA/JPL https://cneos.jpl.nasa.gov/tools/ast_size_est.html 27 July 2020 Christou A. A. Asher D. J. July 2011 A long-lived horseshoe companion to the Earth Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society 414 4 2965–2969 2011MNRAS.414.2965C 0035-8711 10.1111/j.1365-2966.2011.18595.x free 1104.0036 13832179 External links 2001GO2 2001GO2 # # Category:Minor planet object articles (unnumbered) * 20010413 Category:Horseshoe orbit